Charles  e



{No Model.)

0. IE. PIERCE. GANCLOSING DEVICE.

No. 546,078. A Patented Sept 10,1895.

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enAnLE's'E. PIERCE, oFoAMsnIneE, MAssAonusEr'rs.

' CAhl-DLOSING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part-of Letters Patent Nd. 16,0i'8, dated September 10,1895. Application filed may 13, 1396- Seriel No. 549,094- on, model.)

To kill w'hornit may concern/.- a

Be it known that 1, CHARLES E. Prnnc'n'of Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and, State of Massachusetts, have invented certain 5 new and useful Improvements in Can-Closing 1 Devices, of which the following is aspcifica tion.

This invention relates particularly to sheetmetalcans which inclose articles ofjood, and has; for its obj ectto provide a can of this class adapted to be conveniently opened without recourse to acutting-tool. r The invention consists in a'can havinga discharge-opening surrounded bya fiat seat or surface whichis a part'of th'e external surface of the can, and afiexilole sheet-metal cover secured to said seat by a film of solder disposed only between the'co'ver; and theseat, theedges oi the cover being outside of said film,-and the said cover having an outwardly-projecting tongue adapted to be engaged. with a key,'so.

that by rotating the key first the tongue and then the cover will be rolled upon the key, the

solder-film being thus gradually broken until ing. V

Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, Figure 1 representsa top View of a can provided with my improvement. Fig. 2 represents an enlarged section on line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3represents-a section similarto' Fig. 2, showing the operation of ref moving the cover. Fig. t-represents a: side view of the keyelnployed toremove the cover. Fig. 5 represents a'sectional view of-a somewhat different construc'tion. 1

The same letters of reference indicatethe. same parts-in all the figures. 1 v 1 'Inthe drawings, or represents a sheet-metal can, which may be ofany suitable form and construction, and hasat a suitable point, preferably in one of the heads ofthe can when the latter is of cylindrical forui, an opening a, "through whichthe contents may be removed or discharged, said opening being surrounded by a seat a which is a part of the external surface of the portion in which the opening a" is formed. 7 r 1) represents a cover, composed of a fiat piece 5 ev of flexible sheet metal formed to extend across the cover is removed, thusexposing the open- I required.

the opening a, the said cover being consider- .ably larger than the opening, so that it will and the seat, and at the same time make a connection which will b e easily rupturable by the operationofrolling the cover into a'seroll, as hereinafter described. .The cover his provided with a'tongue b' Whi'chis integral with the cover and projects from one edge thereof, the tongue being therefore flexible like the cover. The tongue 1) maybe bent baclghpdn the cover b, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, when its use is'not.

o represents a key, which may consist of-a/ fiat pieceof metal havinga slot 0' in one end of suificient size to receive-the tongue b YVhenit is desired to open the can the key is placed upon the tongue I), said tongue entering the slot 2, and the key is then rotated, thus first winding the tongue upon the key in the form of a sci-olhand then as the scroll approaches-the body of the cover gradually rupturing the solder connection between the cover and seat and rolling the cover upon the key aincontinuation of the sc-rolh-this being continued until the cover is detached from the seat, thus exposing the opening U. A I prefer to make the seat a .wider'under that part of the cover fromwhichv the tongue extends than elsewhere, in order thatthe solder connection between the cover and seat maybe stronger at said point, the object of this being to prevent the cover from suddenly breaking away frorn'the seat along a considerable por- 'tion of its length when thetongue has been nearly all rolled upon the key. I find that when the seat is of; a. uniform width entirely around the opening the cover does. not roll as uniformly and evenly as when the seat is made wider under the part of the cover fromwhic the tongue projects.

In order to form a sufficiently strong and rcc tight solder-joint between the cover and the seat, a considerable degree of pressure is required, since the quantity of solder used is necessarily limited. I therefore form the seat 0, on a bushing-piece d, which is apiece oi sheet metal of sufficient size to contain the opening a and Iorrn'the seat (t and to project sufficiently outside of said seat to admit of its being soldered in the usual Way to the head it of the can, said head having an enlarged opening formed to be covered by the bushing (Zn In practice, the cover I) Will be secured to its seat on the bushing (Z before the solder is applied to the can, so that the two parts can be conveniently subjected to the pressure required in forming the solder connection between the cover and its seat. The can is filled through the opening in its head. before the bushing is applied, and when the can is ready for soldering the bushing is applied and sol-- dered to piace in the usual manner by a solder joint a externally applied.

In Fig. 5 I show the bushing d provided with a screw-threaded offset. portion at? in which the dischargeopening a is formed, the seat a bein at the outer end of the said offset portion. screW-ti'ireaded sheet-n1etal cap d is engaged with the offset portion (1 and serves to protect the tongue I), the latter being bent back and inelosed in the space between the seat a and head of the cap (1.

It will be seen that my improvement enables a can to be quickly opened WltilOtliL the use of a can-opener.

In l ignd I showasan equivalent of thcbuislh' cap (6 formed to be pern1a-' ing d a bushing or nently secured by cement or otherwise to the neck 'I'L ofa glass jar or can, said bushingd having a discharge-opening d" surrounded by a seat to Whicha flexible sheet-metal cover I) is applied, said cover being secured to its seat in the manner above described and provided with a tongue I), I do not, tl'zorcforo, limit.

1 myself to the described improvement in connection with a metal can or receptacle.

I claim- 1. A can comprising; a body having an enlarged openingsurroun-dcd bya scatorbea ri 115 surface, and a twopa-rt closing device comprisportion on said bearing surface and adapted to be united. thereto by sealing medium during:

havingasmalleropeningsurrouinledbyaseat projecting inwardly from the margin of the opening in the can body; andsccmnlly, a cover formed to close the opening in the bushing and to bear on the seat on the bushing, said cover being: secured. to the bushing by rup turaole film of soh'lcr interposed between the bushing and cover and provided with an outwardly n'ojecting tongue whereby it maybe rolled baelc to separate it from the bushing, said bushing and cover constituting a closing device adapted to be secured to the can by the operation of sealing the latter, and to be easily ruptured to afford access to the interior I the can. I

A can coniprisinea body having; an enlarged opening, a bushing secured to the body around said opening, said bushing haying-a scre -threaded offset and a seat at the outer portion of saidol't'uzt surrounding a discharge opening in the. 0t 1 a. flexible sheet-metal cover soldered to said seat and provided with a flexible tongue, and a screwthreaded cap adapted to inelose aid offset and cover the tongue.

In testimony whereof name to this specification, in the presence oi. two subscribing: witnesses, this 21th day of Aprih A. l). 1895.

Cliftltiil ln i llhlltt Witnesses- C. i .lsnon'n,

ft; 5). llluunsox.

ing, first, a bushing formed to hear at its outer I the operation of. fitjttlllig the can, said bushing I have signed my 

